Stephen A. Smith took issue with the manner in which President Joe Biden pardoned his son, Hunter Biden. Joe Biden and Stephen A. Smith
By Ben Axelrod on

Stephen A. Smith doesn’t have an issue with Joe Biden pardoning his son, per se.

How the United States President handled the matter, however, is a different story.

While the First Take star has long defended his employer’s “stick to sports” edict, The Stephen A. Smith Show isn’t an ESPN platform. So it wasn’t surprising to see Smith addressing Biden’s polarizing pardon on the latest episode of his self-produced YouTube show, taking the 46th president to task for what he views as “hypocrisy.”

“When you look at Donald Trump and how the Democrats went after him, you do understand that the Democrats are no longer in a position to say anything, right? You can talk ’til the cows come home, you’re whistling into the wind,” Smith said. “Nobody wants to hear what you have to say right now. I’m not talking about you, I’m talking about your party.

“Because when you pardon your son, going back on your word, telling the American people there was no way you were going to pardon him when everyone and their grandmama knew you were lying but didn’t hold you accountable for it. And now you’ve confirmed what people believed that you were probably going to be lying about that very thing that you said you wouldn’t do for your son.”

Smith proceeded to explain that he — and most people — would’ve been fine with Biden pardoning his son had he just been upfront about his plans to do so all along.

“All you had to do was say, ‘That’s my son. I’m not sending him to jail. I have the power to pardon him and to bring him home with me,'” Smith said. “Everybody would’ve understood that. That wasn’t good enough for you… instead, you had to try to come across like he was victimized because of you. Like you’re so innocent. Like you’re such a paragon of virtue. And as a result, now you’ve brought more skepticism in the direction of the Democratic Party? Why? Because you showed you’re no different than the other side, which you were accusing of everything.

“Y’all went after Donald Trump for everything but tying his shoelaces in the right way. You raked him through the coals. You threw him under the bus. You did everything to him. And I’m in no way trying to act like he’s some innocent bystander in all this. But when the word ‘hypocrisy’ comes up, there’s no escaping it.”

While one could debate whether equating the prosecutions of Trump and Hunter Biden is a false equivalency, Smith has been consistent in his belief that the former was a mistake. That might explain why Smith seemingly understands President Biden wanting to protect his son from potential retaliation. But his bigger issue here appears to be the pageantry of it all.

Rather than being transparent about his plans to pardon Hunter when he was first convicted of three felony gun charges last summer, President Biden repeatedly pledged not to, only to reverse course in the final weeks of his presidency. In doing so, the 82-year-old issued a statement claiming that Hunter was unfairly prosecuted in an act of political warfare.

Considering that many have made the same claim about the felony charges that Trump was ultimately convicted of, it was inevitable that some would accuse Biden’s pardon of being hypocritical. That includes Smith, who hasn’t been shy to criticize either side of the aisle when he’s not sticking to sports on ESPN airwaves.

[The Stephen A. Smith Show]

About Ben Axelrod

Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.

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